Donkeys’ Years
How fitting that in the week the Royal Court celebrated John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger and the way that play reshaped British drama, that Michael Frayn’s insipid throwback to the French Window farce should be revived at the Comedy Theatre.
This really is a dreadfully pointless play. It is Ray Cooney without the speed, Joe Orton without the subversion, Ayckbourn without the simmering subtext, farce without any point whatsoever.
It is a cliched depiction of the middle class Oxbridge fecklessness that appeals only to the middle classes who wish they had been that feckless at Oxbridge. In other words, it’s perfect for the West End.
It takes someone of Jeremy Sams’ calibre to turn this potential sow’s ear into a silk purse and to some extent he does. He frees the pace up as much as possible and allows his actors to create the impression of depth in their characters when in reality there is none.
Peter McKintosh’s set is a wonderfully evocation of the hallowed courtyards of England’s great university and there are turns of phrase in Frayn’s script that melt into the ear.
But this is merely style to cover little substance - and perhaps that is what makes this a truly modern play.
Production information
- By:
- Michael Frayn
- Management:
- Sonia Friedman Productions, Tulbart Productions, Boyett/Ostar Productions, Michael Linnet, Lee Menzies and TEG Productions
- Cast:
- Samantha Bond (until Sept 23), David Haig, Jonathan Coy, Edward Petherbridge, Michael Simkins, Chris Moran, Karl Theobald (from Sept 4), Hamish Clark (from Sept 4), Paul Raffield (from Sept 4), Janie Dee (from Sept 25)
- Director:
- Jeremy Sams
- Design:
- Peter McKintosh
- Lighting:
- Howard Harrison
- Run time:
- 2hr
Production information can change over the run of the show.
Run sheet
- Harold Pinter (formerly Comedy) London
- May 9-December 16 2006
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